I've been thinking a lot about Father's Day this week. I threw a shin-ding to celebrate my husband last Sunday and I was so happy to take time and celebrate him. Our culture both gives too much credit to dads and not enough. Dads get an explosion of credit when they just carry the baby or read one book. Basic stuff is seen as SO CUTE by all the adoring women of America who love it when a dad shows up. But sometimes dads show up again and again and again and there is no more applause and no support. Both the dad's featured today are stay at home dads who are often isolated in the world of stay at home mommies, without support systems or friends to ask when things go wrong. I wanted to highlight the gentle manly beauty of their love today.

Truth is, I took these pictures way back in February, but I had almost forgotten about them because the shoot was so a-typical and squished into a tiny time slot and they just slipped by me. It could happe to anyone actually, in our busy world.

Sometimes we work and work to schedule the perfect photoshoot and it just never comes together. The Berry family and I had written emails back and forth and and called and texted and no matter which way we turned the calendar and looked at our time we just couldn't figure out how to make their fast paced life and my short time in California fit together.

We thought about canceling altogether (always tempting to just call the whole thing off) but we knew we REALLY wanted photographs because I had snapped a couple of their family the last time I was in town and they had turned out so great we were all hungry for more. They had booked a double shoot with photograph's of their five year old's birthday party as part of the package but we wanted some shots at home as well. Matt has built almost every inch of this house by hand and so the house is important. It's their dreams and their strength and their stick-to-it-ness. It's flooded with natural gorgeous light and it really reflects everything about what they are providing for their children and how they love each other.

Finally we decided that there was no way we were going to find a time with everyone home and I agreed to come over for a short afternoon shoot with just Matt, his brother Jason who has an apartment on the property and Mark - their brother from another brother. And of course the three kids. We were so sad that Mama Jenn wasn't able to join us, but sometimes something is better than nothing. (Repeat that to yourself this week when you get only a few dishes done or only take a swipe at your dirty car. Something IS better than nothing.). And in this case, I was thrilled to capture fatherhood and unclehood and godfatherhood and what happens when men who are make themselves brothers way back in high school grow up and build houses and have babies one day apart and continue to hold strong bonds of connection between them.

So keep scrolling to enjoy these beautiful photographs of men loving babies and loving each other, and also be willing to schedule that photoshoot even if not everything is perfect. It's ok to have a camera present even if an important family member is missing or someone is sick or it rains and we have to move our shoot inside. Something is better than nothing yall and real life is full of suprises. You never know what you will discover.